Murray Goldberg

Played by Jeff Garlin

Character Biography

Gruff but loveable, hot-tempered but never scary, Murray Goldberg has a different style of being a Dad. Calling you a "moron", for example, is just how he parents. But if you understand "Murray Speak" you know it comes from a place of love. Murray is constantly and hilariously struggling to stay calm. He's triggered by a pin drop. He embodies the role of "dad" with no shame. The minute he gets home, his pants come off and he struts around in tightie-whities. Murray had big dreams of playing football. He even went to Penn State on a scholarship, which didn't pan out. Now Murray runs the "Ottoman Empire", the family furniture business, where, if he's not lounging on the merchandise, he's peddling it. When the work day is over, Murray comes home weary and ready to plop down in front of the TV for some Magnum PI. Some might say he's hen-pecked by Beverly, but Murray is fine with their relationship. He is utterly dependent on Beverly; he literally can't even make a sandwich without her input.

He is also known as the executive producer and co-star of the critically acclaimed HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, now going into its 10th season.

Garlin adapted his solo stage show, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, into an independent film that premiered to critical acclaim at the Tribeca Film Festival, which IFC released in 2007. In 2013, the studio released his second feature, Dealin' with Idiots, as writer, director and star. Garlin was executive producer on the 2013 Academy Award®-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier, about a mysterious nanny who gained a posthumous reputation as one the most accomplished street photographers. And in 2017, Garlin co-wrote, directed and starred in Handsome, the first Netflix murder mystery.

In 2012, Garlin authored the nonfiction book Curbing It (Simon & Schuster), in which he shared his eye-opening journey to reduce his waistline and his carbon footprint during the production of the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.